November 1, 2021

It gave me nothing I expected, but it gave me everything I needed

How does one describe that moment when you shoulder your backpack with everything you think you need for the next 4 nights and 5 days? And the feeling when taking that first step into the awe-inspiring Fish River Canyon. A step into an unfamiliar world. Is it fear, excitement, anxiety, eagerness, adrenaline, or just blank emotion?
November 1, 2021

Etosha Babies

What can be more endearing than the sight of babies? Let me try: Wildlife babies! Springtime is upon us, and the Etosha National Park has experienced a prolific rainy season this year, lasting well into April and an important contributing factor in ensuring plenty of water, food and shelter for a healthy baby boom. Antelope, wildebeest and zebra are able to delay giving birth to their offspring until the conditions are just right, and right they certainly are.
November 1, 2021

Living in the land of sand and freedom: Driving on empty

One of our favourite activities every year is the annual vulture tagging. We have been participating since 2016, at which point one child was two and the other five. The first time we joined this outing we hadn’t yet met everyone involved, but had made telephonic arrangements to meet the team at Sesriem.
November 1, 2021

Tolis Fragoudis: Conscious about how we treat this world

Tolis Fragoudis is a Greek-Swiss photographer, filmmaker and keynote speaker based in Zurich, Switzerland. He runs his own production company, TolisArt, working as a creative director for international companies, sports events, tourism and corporate clients. His biggest passion is storytelling, and he travels the world to explore the beauty of culture, nature and humans.
November 1, 2021

Discover Namibia with Ondili

"Discover Namibia with Ondili" takes readers on a journey through Namibia's diverse landscapes and cultural treasures. From the rolling red dunes of the Kalahari Desert, where guided walks and luxurious dune camps await, to the ancient Namib Desert with its iconic Deadvlei and horseback explorations, each region offers unique experiences. In Erongo, visitors can marvel at volcanic mountains and ancient rock paintings, while Damaraland beckons with its ancient engravings and desert-adapted wildlife. Etosha National Park completes the adventure with thrilling safari drives and luxurious lodge stays, showcasing Namibia's natural beauty and rich biodiversity.
December 1, 2021

Exploring the Great White Place from East to West

Etosha, the Great White Place, stretches over a distance of 300 km from west to east as the proverbial crow flies. On my most recent visit I decided to traverse the park from Galton Gate in the west to Von Lindequist gate in the east – a journey of several hundred kilometres.
December 1, 2021

Conservation is a family business

Namibia’s conservation landscape has Annette, the Rhino Whisperer – firmly on the map. Always by Jan’s side, she was his wing(wo)man, in more ways than one. Looking into the life and work of this fascinating matriarch, Annette is rigorous when it comes to her calling to conserve endangered species and has led many projects, even relocating elephants to Central Africa.
December 1, 2021

The RMB Ride for Rhinos 2021

The arrival of riders for the 2021 RMB Ride for Rhinos coincided with World Rhino Day on Wednesday 22 September. While the theme for this year’s World Rhino Day is Five Rhino Species Forever, the yearly RMB Ride for Rhinos is an event that is intended to create awareness for the plight of one rhino species in particular – the black rhino.
December 1, 2021

The quintessential Namibian Safari at Ongava

From the back of a game viewer driving through Ongava Game Reserve, it is hard to imagine what the area must have looked like 30 years ago when it was still a cluster of unproductive cattle farms. Today it is a protected piece of land where antelope are plentiful and lion, rhino and elephant freely go about their business, all part of and contributing to a healthy, thriving biome.
December 1, 2021

Gerhard Thirion on Capturing the Wilderness

Gerhard Thirion grew up on a 106 000-ha game farm north of Etosha National Park where he developed a burning passion for wildlife, nature and indigenous cultures at a very early age. He initially pursued a career in the aviation industry as a loadmaster with the national airline. Fuelled by his love for aircraft and flying, this was where his interest in photography was conceived.
December 1, 2021

Namibia with wings

From stark desertscapes to lush woodlands. Rugged mountainous terrains to smooth, uninterrupted coastline. Namibia is as geographically and topographically diverse as it is culturally. The land of endless horizons. That is how we have known, and marketed, Namibia since our young country’s birth. Our great expanse of sights and delights is unsurpassed.
December 1, 2021

Birding with Pompie: What’s in a name

I think the only bird which has been named and featured in a movie is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Bird on a wire by Leonard Cohen is the song most covered by other artists – about 400 different artists, I think. If this is because it is such a beautiful song or if it is about the bird I do not know. What is important is that I do not know what bird it was, but I think it has been sitting on the same wire for the last 50 years.
December 1, 2021

Company

Three’s company? Bull, that kite will not fly for me. I think more than one is a crowd. But I realise that for most (normal?) people this is not what they have in mind when planning a trip (holiday/camping). Being a one/ two-person tripper, I think I can be quite selective if I must do that crowd-camping thing.
December 1, 2021

From the desert to the mountains

As widely as the Namibian landscapes can differ when comparing the northeast of the country to the southwest, as quickly it can change over short distances. Such changes in scenery will not be as drastic, of course, but can nonetheless give one the feeling of being in a completely different place.
March 9, 2022

The story of a dove-hunting black- backed jackal at Chudop

Early one morning at the end of November 2021 at the Chudop waterhole in Etosha National Park, a black-backed jackal bitch appears. Hundreds of Cape Turtle Doves and a few Laughing Doves, now called Palm Doves, come to drink at the water’s edge. In the usual jackal trot the female moves around the waterhole watching the thirsty doves while keeping a distance of two to four metres from the water. The moment a dove starts to drink, with its back turned towards the prowling jackal, the small predator lowers its head and body and tries to sneak up close to the dove. Most potential victims are too wary or warned by nearby doves taking off. Several attacks end with a splash of water and feathers in the mouth while the prey gets away with a big fright and sometimes the loss of a few feathers.
March 9, 2022

Emboldened conservation beyond boundaries: The Namib Tsaris Nature Reserve

The area bordering the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia’s south, which may seem like a wasteland to some, has become synonymous with conservation. Unsuccessful commercial small livestock farms having given way to large tracts of fencless land allowing for the unhindered movement of desert adapted wildlife.